I haven’t read a more frustrating book than The Eighth Detective by Alex Pavesi. It has a smart premise. Pavesi was aiming to attempt something pretty unique. But then I feel he got distracted by the lure of surprising readers. The twists and turns were too many to keep the book coherent. There are no characters to connect with. No story that captures your attention. The seven stories narrated by the lead character are silly. The twists are sillier. And are one too many. It was frustrating to see a clever premise wasted through controlled writing.
At the same time, I haven’t heard many better narration performances than by Emilia Fox. She is extremely natural while voice acting in both stories and dialogues. I could visualize every character distinctly just through her voice.
The last time I was this impressed by someone’s narration was when I listened to Ray Porter narrate Project Hail Mary. Absolutely fantastic!